The invention relates generally to a molding machine, and more particularly, to a locating system for a clamp frame.
A conventional molding system often includes three stations: a loading station, a heating station, and a forming station. A clamp frame can be provided to hold a sheet of material to be molded. At the loading station, a flat sheet of material is loaded into the clamp frame. At the heating station, the sheet loaded into the frame is heated to a desired temperature. At the forming station, a mold platen or mold platens forms the heated sheet into a desired shape, for example, with the application of a vacuum to draw the heated sheet into the shape of the mold. A user removes the formed sheet from the clamp frame at the loading station. A molding machine can include a plurality of frames that sequentially rotate about a central hub to the stations.
The mold station may be used to mold various articles which use molds of varying dimensions. An adjustable clamp frame configured to accommodate different sized sheets and molds is known in the art. Typically the adjustable frame is sized to the dimension of the desired mold. In the prior art, the clamp frame was adjusted at the forming station by bringing the mold into close contact with the frame and adjusting the perimeter of the frame to approximately conform to the perimeter of the mold, allowing a gap, for example, of xc2xc inch. The clamp frame has been adjusted by shimming a gap between the mold and the frames to achieve the proper spacing. Because the clamp frame is adjusted in close proximity to the mold, the mold is susceptible to damage from incidental contact with the user""s tools or with the clamp frame.
A typical molding machine includes three clamp frames. Adjusting the three clamp frames typically requires an hour or more. For short production runs, this set-up time greatly increases the costs for the run. When the mold is changed for a different production run, the shimming process must again be repeated for the three clamp frames. Furthermore, the shimming process must be repeated even where a mold that has been used previously in the molding machine is used.
The invention is directed toward providing a locating system for use with an adjustable clamp frame of a molding machine. The locating system can be used to set up the clamp frame to an appropriate opening for a desired mold. The adjustable clamp frame includes a front and a rear end rail and a left and a right side rail. The inventive locating system includes two sets of a first and a second plate, a pair of left and right locating members, two sets of a first and a second bracket, and a pair of front and rear locating members.
The locating system requires no measuring devices. Each left and right locating member includes a front end, a back end, and a longitudinal midpoint. Each front and rear locating member includes a left end, a right end, a longitudinal axis, and a longitudinal midpoint. Each locating member includes a plurality of holes, including a central hole and a pair of end holes. The holes of each respective locating member are disposed in an array including two rows. Adjacent holes are disposed in alternating rows. The rows are in lateral spaced relation to each other and are disposed substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis. The holes are in spaced relation to each other, such as half-inch spacing between center points of adjacent holes.
Each central hole is disposed at the longitudinal midpoint of the respective locating member. The central hole can be labeled with an indicium, such as the number xe2x80x9c0.xe2x80x9d Additional indicia can be used to mark the remaining holes to identify the respective hole""s position relative to the central hole. For example, the indicia can be numbers that are disposed such that the number xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d indicium marks the two holes adjacent to the central hole. Each remaining hole can be identified by a successive integer indicium moving toward the ends of the respective locating member such that the highest numbered indicium, such as xe2x80x9c80,xe2x80x9d marks the end holes.
Each plate and bracket includes a plurality of holes. The holes can be disposed in an array with two rows and three columns. The spacing of the rows can be configured to substantially correspond to the spacing of the rows of the locating members for alignment purposes. The longitudinal spacing of the columns of the respective plates and brackets can be varied. Each column can be labeled with an indicium, such as a letter.
The left and right locating members can be attached, respectively, to a left and a right support arm of a molding machine, for example. The front and rear locating members can be attached, respectively, to the front and rear end rails of the clamp frame. The plates and the brackets are configured to interconnect to the locating members. The first and the second plates can be connected mounted to both the front and the rear rails to form rail assemblies. The plates of the rail assemblies can be mounted to the support arms and the left and right locating members at a desired location by using the indicia found on the left and right locating members and the end plates. The first and second brackets can be connected to the front and rear locating members at a desired location by using the indicia found on the front and rear locating members and the brackets. The side rails of the clamp frame can be mounted to the respective set of first and second brackets.
The inventive locating system allows the clamp frames to be set up at the loading station rather than at the forming station. By setting up the clamp frames at the loading station, the molding machine can be properly configured rapidly. With two workers setting up the clamp frames at the loading station, two other workers can be positioning the desired mold and other components at the forming station at the same time.
Clamp frame set hole positions for a plurality of molds can be recorded on machine set up sheets allowing the machine to be set up consistently and rapidly each time. The locating system provides a tremendous time saving, reducing a machine set up time from a 230 minute average to a 35 minute average, which leads to cost saving and production increases.
Reference is sometimes made herein to the xe2x80x9cleft,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9cright,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9cfront,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9crear,xe2x80x9d or other regions of the locating system and its various components. It should be understood that these terms are used solely for convenient reference, inasmuch as the locating system may be used omnidirectionally.